Iga Swiatek reacts to shock Elena Rybakina loss at Australian Open as top seed – ‘I felt the pressure’

Iga Swiatek has discussed the reasons behind her shock fourth-round loss to Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open, admitting she “felt the pressure”.

Swiatek was rolled over by a rampant Rybakina 6-4 6-4 as the reigning Wimbledon champion from Kazakhstan displayed her full potential once again on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

But world No. 1 Swiatek – though complimenting her opponent’s display afterwards – felt there were failings in her own approach to the match, and the tournament.

Swiatek said: “I felt like I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments, and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard.

“So I’m going to try to chill out a little bit more. That’s all.

“For sure, the past two weeks have been pretty hard for me.

“So I felt today that I don’t have that much to take from myself to fight even more.

“I felt the pressure, and I felt that I don’t want to lose instead of I want to win.

“So that’s a base of what I should focus on in the next couple of weeks.”

Swiatek said what most observers would have perhaps concluded after the encounter – that Rybakina’s ranking of world No. 25 is not altogether reflective of the Kazakhstani’s ability.

“She was just better today, honestly, and she played in a really solid way,” Swiatek said.

“Her ranking should be better, but we all know what happened in Wimbledon [when ranking points were not awarded because of the issue around the tournament’s banning of Russian and Belarusian players].

“I think tactically she was kind of composed and just able to stay focused. She was a better player today.”

– – –